Speed cameras - Yes. A 100 times yes. He reminds NPS that former congress member Dick Armey (TX) and VA Governor Jim Gilmore complained about them in 2001, and that they were then removed. But he points out what many said at the time - they were wrong. He proposes a concession contract to get around rules about spending and revenue.

A shocking 70-80% of drivers speed and NPS did not even measure speeds at the 35-mph stretch between Belle Haven Road and Belleview Boulevard.

Careful use of traffic diets - he supports them, but wants NPS to be cautious about them, with some experiments first

Mount Vernon Trail - The trail is unsafe. It's too narrow and has too many turns and blind corners. People are getting injured frequently. Root heave is making the surface unsafe. He recommends maintenance and perhaps a separate study. In the short term he recommends letting cyclists back in the road - at least on the slower portions or where traffic is light; and closing part of the Parkway on weekends as is done in Rock Creek Park. Great suggestions. Back in 2006, WABA met with NPS to discuss ways to make the trail safer, but a study of the complete trail and of a possible expansion north, with an eye towards improvements and safety would be a great thing.

Increased Enforcement - Calls for more enforcement of speed limits on the roadway and on the trail (15mph if you're wondering) and for a ban on e-scooters on the trail. [I disagree on the scooter ban].

There are other suggestions I've omitted because they don't really matter to cyclists and trail users, but lots of them are good ideas.

Surovell and FABB both argue that the road has become unsafe, largely due to speeding. 'FABB is looking more for speed cameras and round-a-bouts, and a road diet as a third solution. Road diets usually take away a driving lane and have more bike and pedestrian spaces. Either way, these will impede the government employee driving to the office at Fort Belvoir." FABB and the Alexandria BPAC are doing a ride and picnic on August 18th in conjunction with the safety study for those interested in getting a hands-on informed opinion.

We normally complain about federal interference, but in one case you could argue it helped cyclists was in the building of the Custis Trail as part of I-66 (maybe we'd been better off with just the trail, but what are you going to do). In 1977, Virginia's plan to build I-66 was rejected by the federal government and so, to gain approval, planners cut the project down from 6-8 lanes to 4 and to add a bicycle path (that would restore an informal bike path that had been in the corridor for years). And the Custis Trail has been a major commuter, transportation and recreation route ever since. A real success.

Such a trail would likely have to be a hodge-podge of new and existing facilities, both on road and off, not unlike the retrofitted trail along the expanded I-66.

Just for the hell of it, here's a stab at it. Be kind as I didn't research this too much:

Starting at the Holmes Run Trail, travel north along a new trail on the west side or along the east side with a path along Van Dorn (or hell, why not both). Cross over at Seminary to the east side (if needed) and then continue along Dorn to King Street. Cross that and continue along the interstate on a new trail to Quaker. Navigate through the Shirlington loop either on a new trail or on road via Preston and Martha Custis to a new Four Mile Run bridge that connects to the trail near I-395 (How is there not a bridge there yet?). Push north along I-395 through the Glebe Interchange, I-66-style, and then to Army Navy Drive. Use the Protected Bike lanes all the way to Route 1. Cross under Route 1 on a new MUT tunnel that connects to Long Bridge and then follow that and the future Long Bridge bike crossing to DC. Easy peasy. [I'd be really interested in what a more formal study like the one WABA did for Arlington Blvd would look like]

The study that's accepting comments is also looking at the Route 1 Corridor, and there again are some opportunities for better bike accommodations in Arlington, Alexandria and Fairfax County.

The National Park Service is involved in two initiatives to improve safety in the GW Parkway Corridor, both of which could make the Mt Vernon Trail (MVT) safer. One project, the Southern GW Parkway Safety Study, is having an Open House tonight that will include Rep. Don Beyer. It will be from 6 to 8 at Walt Whitman Middle School in Alexandria - 2500 Parkers Lane.

Starting today, NPS is collecting comments online from drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, and neighbors who use or live near the parkway between the City of Alexandria and Mount Vernon.

I haven't biked that far south on the trail in years, but many of these crossings also serve - or could serve as connections between the communities on the other side of the Parkway and the trail. For example, perhaps a better connection to Belle View Blvd. could be useful. Or at Vernon View Drive. How are the crossings at Wellington Road, Collingwood or Waynewood? Should those be on raised crosswalks (you're leading the witness!)?

Meanwhile on the DC portion of the trail, NPS is moving forward on the Memorial Circle Safety Improvements. That project aims to make Memorial Circle safer and the finalized study recommends moving a few of the trail crosswalks, adding signs and implementing some spot road diets at trail crossings.

Not much has changed since December, but they did respond to some comments about it.

Crosswalk Suggestions. Some commenters expressed concerns over the improvements proposed at crosswalks and made suggestions for additional or alternate improvements for these areas, including implementing safety improvements at crosswalks outside of hotspots, removing stop signs along the Mount Vernon Trail (MVT) at crosswalks, using different types of rectangular rapid flashing beacons (RRFBs), and closing informal social trails.ResponseThe NPS reviewed these concerns and suggestions. Some suggestions, such as the type of RRFBs, will be considered as the NPS moves forward with implementation of improvements. One commenter suggested adding improvements for the crosswalk along Washington Boulevard near the channel; however, this crosswalk is outside the scope of this project. A few commenters suggested the NPS address the safety issue of pedestrians and cyclists using an informal social trail to cross the George Washington Memorial Parkway (the Parkway) north of Arlington Memorial Bridge; however, closing of social trails is part of regular NPS operations and is outside of the scope of this project.

The Park Service said it will begin the work once funding is available.

Last week VDOT held meetings on 495 Next, the Northern Extension of 495's HOT lanes. I think it's a bad idea to widen the area's highways because of global warming and the way that widening highways doesn't work and people dying and stuff, but I'm not going to mention that anymore in this post and I'm just going to focus on what they're looking at for cyclists as part of this project.

They're working with Fairfax County, and using their bike plan as a guide, on creating trails in the corridor, behind the sound wall as well as on-road facilities and improvements at the Live Oak Drive, Georgetown Pike and Old Dominion Drive overpasses.

The trail would start at the end of Lear Road in the Shakespeare part of McLean. A short section would run from Lear to Snow Meadow Lane, to be built by someone else (?). It also shows a short spur continuing along the toll road.

At Snow Meadow, trail users would cross Lewinsville Road and then get back on the trail, which would stay on the west side of 495 all the way to Georgetown Pike. Along the way there would be connections to Timberly Court and Old Gate Court through Timberly Park The project would construct a sidepath along Old Dominion Drive. Everything south (to the left below) would be built by somebody else (Who is this generous person?). I highlighted the trail to make it more visible

The 3 foot wide sidewalk on Old Dominion Drive would be upgraded to a 10 foot wide MUT with a barrier. The MUT would go from Dulany to a point past Dominion Court.

Another upgraded bike/ped facility would get the trail across 495 at the Georgetown Pike, where the trail would switch to the east side, inside the Beltway. Inside the Beltway it will run on the west side of Balls Hill Road to Live Oak. I'm surprised there are no connections to Spencer Road or Peter Place (highlighted in red) in this section. The project will build everything to Live Oak, but then north of that it is someone else(?)

There's currently no sidewalk along Georgetown Pike over 495, but this plan adds a 10 foot wide MUT with a barrier here too. The plan should include extending the MUT on the Pike east to Cooper Middle School and Deer Run Drive.

After Live Oak, the trail would run along the inside of the Beltway, crossing under the GW Parkway and it's ramps down to the American Legion Bridge which it would someday cross - one would hope - to the C&O Canal Towpath. On the drawing below, the trail ends at about the same place that a Mount Vernon Trail would end according to the 2002 expansion study NPS did. That trail would hit this trail just south of it's terminus. It would cool if they built the first few feet of it to the "disturbance limit" or even better the section all the way to Turkey Run.

Live Oak Drive has a sidewalk now, and would appear to get a wider one in this plan.

So it's great that they have some plans to add a trail along this section. It would be great if someone else wasn't building so much of it, and if they added a few more connections. And it would be really great if they weren't doing the thing I'm not talking about.

A 1976 Washington Post article on the state of bike trails at the time ("New network of bike trails may not find easy rolling", The Washington Post, 22 April 1976, Paul Hodge), and on future plans, shows both how far we've come - Alexandria had one bike trail, less than a mile long - and where we've missed opportunities - one new trail would "go from Georgetown to Glen Echo on the old D.C. Transit Cabin John Trolley line."

The article notes that while the region and nation are in the middle of a bicycle boom, with sales setting records in 1975 and 1976 sales 40% higher than in 1975, local funding for bicycle facilities was cut in both years due to budget shortages.

The article gave NPS credit for the local biking boom by paving the horse trails in Rock Creek Park, leading the effort to build the first section of the Mt. Vernon Trail and closing roads in Rock Creek Park and GW Parkway on the weekends.

The State in 1976

The article claims 120 miles of bike trail built since 1973 (map in 1972 here) at a cost of $2 million, but I'm not sure what they're counting as trails or where that number comes from. The most popular trails in the region were the C&O canal towpath, the "Washington to Mount Vernon Trail" and the "Rock Creek Park Trail". Still the network was disjointed and Fairfax trail planner William Wilkinson said they were mostly used by kids and local commuters.

Also the region was getting jazzed up about the 6,000 bicyclists expected for the Bikecentenial, a cross-country bike ride to celebrate the Bicentennial. The longest bike trails by county were the 7 mile MacArthur Bike Trail and 5.7 mile River Road Trail in Montgomery County; the 4 mile Northeast Branch Park Trail and 2.7 mile Bowie bike path in PG County; the Arlington Boulevard and Four Mile Run trails, both 4 miles long, in Arlington; the gravel trail around Burke Lake in Fairfax and Alexandria had the 1 mile trail mentioned above.

The District had built no trails of its own, but had built ramps to connect to NPS trails. They had just finished a bike plan and planned to spend $660,000 on trail construction over the next two years. Other jurisdictions were planning to spend less. Fairfax, Virginia and Maryland planned to spend nothing.

The 1973 federal highway bill had required states to "consider" bicycle trails in all secondary road projects. That forceful language resulted in a meager $2.8 million in spending on trails over the prior two years. The 1976 act allowed states to spend $2.5 million per year on bike trails with a $45 million national maximum. We've come a long way.

Lots of cities in the area were competing for a demonstration bikeway program, available only for urban areas, that would pay for 80% of bike trails. Arlington was seen as having the best chance with a $1 million plan to connect the Pentagon, around the Cemetery and Roosevelt Island.

Plans

In addition to the Glen Echo trolley trail the article highlights something they were calling the Washington and Old Dominion Trail.

The trolley trail is still just a vision, and a diminished one at that. DC is currently performing a feasibility study on the section in its borders, but Montgomery County recently dropped the section in Maryland from it's plans.

The W&OD trail has been built, but not as imagined. In the 1976 article it was envisioned as going all the way to Bluemont, VA and connecting to the C&O Canal towpath for a 140 mile loop trail with "hostels, picnicking and camping along the way." [Youth Hostels were one of the primary advocates for bicycle trails through the 1970's]. Alas the trail never made it to Bluemont, and I don't know if it ever will - certainly not on the right-of-way.

Last summer, VDOT announced that they were planning to expand the 495 Express Lanes to the American Legion Bridge, where they would eventually connect to one Maryland is proposing. Yesterday they announced a deal to do so. Since the summer they've been working on the Environmental Assessment, which should be ready soon according to the schedule laid out in June. Setting aside the wisdom of expanding the Beltway, what opportunities could such a project create for cyclists?

VDOT is coordinating with Maryland, which is looking at a variety of design options for its portion of I-495 and the American Legion Bridge.

which is not particularly confidence building.

But despite the ALB which Virginia can punt to Maryland, there are quite a few bike facilities in the Fairfax County Bike Plan for this area, and the project should address many if not all of them. I mean it might not, but it should. The project area extends along 495 from Dolley Madison Blvd/123 to the ALB and along the Dulles Toll/Access Road from Spring Hill Road outside the Beltway to Dolley Madison inside of it. If they aren't going to do these things in conjunction with this major project, when will they.

On the north side, there are four facilities in the bike plan that pass through the study area.

Most notable is the shared-use path the commenter asked about. This project should build the path with in the project area and all the way along the George Washington Parkway at least to Dead Run, where the NPS study proposed a crossing of the Parkway connecting to Heather Brook Drive. That's not in the bike plan, but it should be. If not, then it should be extended to Turkey Run Park. In the short term, so that it's not a dead-end, it could pass under the bridge to Live Oak Drive creating a new critical connection. That's not explicitly in the bike plan but should be. The trail could replace the current Potomac Heritage Trail in the area.

Fairfax County Bike Plan map for north 495

The bike plan also puts sharrows on Balls Hill and Live Oak Drive north of Georgetown Pike (we can do better, especially if the Live Oaks Drive Bridge needs to be rebuilt); bike lanes on Balls Hill south of the Pike; and a striped shoulder on Old Dominion Drive. Again we can do better if the Old Dominin Drive Bridge is replaced. [Old Dominion Drive is the ROW of the old W&OD railroad, BTW]

Fairfax County Bike Plan map for Tysons area

In the Tysons area, the projects from the bike plan area much bigger. There's a pair of bridges over the Beltway at Jones Branch Road - but that's already under construction (the new bridge/road will include on-street bike lanes in each direction and an 8- to 12-foot-wide lighted sidewalks)

There's also a shared use path along Dolley Madison and a shared use path from Freddie Mac Center, over the Dulles Toll and Access Roads/267 to Northwyck Court. The path bridge over 267 is obviously the big ticket item.

I don't see any comment opportunities right now, but bike advocates should be ready to make their case for these items when the EA comes out.

A proposed development adjacent to the Mt. Vernon Trail at the site of the former home of Bastille restaurant and the adjacent MetroStage theater could result in better connections to the trail, a bike rest stop area and "safety improvements" to the trail.

A developer would like to build an 8-story multi-family dwelling along the Mt Vernon Trail and between 3rd and Royal in Alexandria. This is on the north side of old town where the trail splits to go around the old power plant. They call this the trail spur, even though it's older than the part on the other side of the power plant.

Open space connections provided to Mount Vernon Trail spur, including direct access from rear patios, and the placement of public art and a bike “rest stop” area at northwest corner of site. The open space is designed to integrate the patios of the ground-floor residential units with the adjacent trail, and direct access to the trail spur is provided and a seat-height retaining wall proposed.

The applicant is providing streetscape improvements adjacent to the northwest corner of the site where N. Royal Street, Bashford Lane and the Mount Vernon Trail spur converge. This area currently presents conflicts for bicyclists, pedestrians and vehicles as the Old Town street grid ends. The applicant will work with City staff to design a pedestrian and bicycle crossing as N. Royal Street turns into Bashford Lane, and physical separation between the Mount Vernon Trail spur and roadway. In addition to the in-kind improvements, the applicant is providing a contribution to the Old Town North Streetscape and Open Space fund for improvements in the plan area.

You can kind of see that in the top of this drawing. The trail will no longer transition to the street, but will have a connection to it. Instead the road will be narrowed to create space for the trail and a buffer.

The bike rest area will include a bench, repair tools and an air pump and be located on the north side near Royal Street.

In addition to changes to the trail, the trail-oriented development will also include a $10,000 contribution to Capital Bikeshare and $486,011 to the Old Town North Streetscape and Implementation fund, which is and based on the density added from the CRMU-X zone. The fund is reserved for future enhancements to the linear park that are planned along the Mount Vernon Trail.

There will be no change to the trail itself behind the building, but it will get some more trees planted along it.

Meanwhile, another development along the trail farther south will also add some enhancements to the trail. This one is at 901 Farifax Drive, on the north side of the trail between Montgomery and Canal Center. This development will include up to $770,000 in trail improvements. It could include

direct access to the Mount Vernon Trail and coordinating improvements to the adjacent section of the Mount Vernon Trail. The improvements will include trail path, lighting, landscaping and improvements to the garage wall that is located along the eastern property line. The plan for specific improvements to this section of the Mount Vernon Trail will be initiated by the City and coordinated with the applicant during the final site plan process. Staff anticipates the planning process for the Mount Vernon Trail linear park from Pendleton Street to the NRG site to commence by 2019. The improvements to this trail section that are constructed by the applicant are related to the developer contributions that have been negotiated with the development community to implement the OTN-SAP.

The project will include a "Trail overlook terace" with stairs leading down to the trail. Interesting the stairs will encroach on the trail right-of-way (but not the trail) a little, which required them to figure out who owned the land.

The applicant has oriented three of the townhouses to face the trail and has created a trail overlook terrace directly behind the multifamily tower. The issue of direct connection to the trail has been with determining ownership of this portion of the Mount Vernon Trail. It has been assumed through much of the process that Norfolk Southern Railway (through its predecessors) maintained ownership of the adjacent right-of-way, which includes the trail path and railroad line.

Recent research by City staff has produced evidence that the City had not vacated the right-of-way (formerly N. Lee Street and Water Street) to a railway company and remains the right-of-way owner. The portion of the railroad/trail right-of-way north of Canal Center Plaza (formerly First Street) was not incorporated into the City until 1930. City ownership of this right-of-way allows for stair and ramp encroachments from the site onto the trail. The City is drafting a letter to Norfolk Southern Railway that details the City’s claim of the right-of-way. The letter to Norfolk Southern includes a deed from 1976 related to the construction of a Mount Vernon Trail segment that shows the property line of Norfolk Southern and the City right-of-way (N. Lee Street).

The project will also set aside land on Fairfax Street for a 15-dock Capital Bikeshare station; contribute $20,000 towards its construction; include 71 bicycle parking spaces and either keep the trail open or build a suitable detour.

The NYT ran an article last month about business travelers taking the bike to the airport. I guess it was in the business section and so that's why it focused on business travelers, but I suspect leisure travelers - who have to pay their own way - are even more likely to bike to the airport. The article has a local angle mentioning BWI as a bicycle accessible destination and also National and its proximity to Capital Bikeshare.

On trips to Washington, Mr. Semler walks about 10 minutes from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to a Capital Bikeshare station in Crystal City, a neighborhood in Arlington, Va., for the 30-minute ride to his company’s office at the Navy Yard. He uses Google Maps for directions. “With biking, I have a more reliable trip. With Metro, I could be stuck in a tunnel for 15 minutes,” he said.

Other biking routes, including the Mount Vernon Trail along the Potomac River, take bikers through Arlington and Alexandria, Va., down to Mount Vernon.

Baltimore-Washington International Airport has the 12.5-mile Hiker-Biker Trail, which circles the airport and connects to public transportation and to Zagster Bike Share.

Ten bicycles are in a rack directly outside the airport rail station. “It’s for members of the community, customers and employees,” said Jonathan Dean, an airport spokesman.

It seems like a way to get some exercise on a long layover, not a way to get there or to get home. It's about an hour bike ride to the inner harbor from the airport, but I think some improved trails and facilities near the airport could make biking there easier for people already close to it - or to nearby hotels. But I'm not familiar enough with the area to make a suggestion.

National is great for biking to with its close-in location and the MVT, but it needs bikeshare on site and has for years. It keepsbeing promised, but so far it's not there. I'm not sure what the holdup is. And it would be great to be able to take all the new DoBi bikes there and leave them (or vice versa).

Dulles could use a bike-friendly connection to the W&OD Trail, the Silver Line Extension Trail and the Dulles Ring Route that was suggested back in 2003. And then, when a good connection to Herndon is established, a CaBi station.

I'm not sure why I got an alert about this this week, since the bill will expire tomorrow, but Virginia's two senators introduced a bill in August to rename a rest area on the Mt. Vernon Trail after Peter B. Webster III.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to the National Park Service Foundation, which raises private funds to expand, protect, and bring more young and minority visitors to our national parks. Peter had explored several of these treasures and looked forward to many more.

The rest area that would be named for Webster is "The rest area bound by Alexandria Avenue, West Boulevard Drive, and the George Washington Memorial Parkway on the Mount Vernon Trail within the George Washington Memorial Parkway" which is here. The area would get a plaque and the plaque would be paid for with donations.

The National Park Service has finally completed the Memorial Circle Safety Improvements Environmental Assessment that they started back in 2014 and were to finish in spring of 2016. The preferred alternative will modify 3 of the 4 trail crossings on Columbia Island, as well as the crosswalk on the north side of Memorial Circle. There's a public meeting on it tomorrow and the comment period is open until Dec 29th. The goal of the project is to improve transportation safety at and near Memorial Circle while maintaining the memorial character of the area. The goals are to reduce risks at key locations within the corridor and to reduce conflicts between trail, walkway, and roadway users.

The preferred alternative is the more intensive one, which aims to improve safety and reduce conflicts. The EA identifies 10 "hot spots" of which 5 are the bike/ped crossings. This alternative would redesign Memorial Circle as a roundabout. Drivers in the Circle would have the right of way and drivers entering the Circle would be required to yield. The Circle itself would be restriped to reduce from two lanes to one lane. All five crosswalks would get improved signage and/or other alerts for drivers.

In the vicinity of crosswalks, the NPS would improve signage to draw visual attention to crosswalks. Fluorescent yellow advance pedestrian crossing warning signs would be installed on both sides of the roadways approaching crosswalks at hotspots 3, 5, 6, 8, and 9 to alert motorists that they are approaching a crosswalk. At the same crosswalks, fluorescent yellow pedestrian crossing warning signs with arrows would be installed on both sides of the road to alert motorists of the location of the crosswalk. These same crosswalks would also have vertical flexible lane delineators (aka flexposts) installed at the approaches to further visually alert drivers to the presence of a crosswalk. Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon (RRFB) systems, which flash warning lights in an irregular pattern when a pedestrian or cyclists is crossing, would be installed at crosswalks in hotspots 3, 5, 8, and 9 to alert drivers to pedestrians or bicyclists using the crosswalk.

Furthermore, some of the crosswalks would be moved and others would be narrowed.

At hotspot 3, where S. Arlington Boulevard exits the Circle to the north, the roadway would be reduced from three lanes to two prior to the crosswalk. Two lanes would enter the area from Arlington Memorial Bridge and continue north along S. Arlington Boulevard; one lane would enter from the Circle and merge into the left lane of S. Arlington Boulevard. The existing far left lane that currently exits onto the ramp to S. Washington Boulevard would be removed along with this exit ramp.

At hotspot 5, the existing pedestrian and bicycle crossing would be relocated closer to the Circle, to allow pedestrians and bicyclists to cross where vehicle speeds are slower and where drivers are anticipating conflicts. The location of the relocated crosswalk would need to be coordinated with the new, small concrete island constructed to allow two northbound lanes from Washington Boulevard to bypass the Circle and enter Arlington Memorial Bridge

At hotspot 6, the merge from two lanes to one lane would be maintained at the crosswalk to continue to enable a safer crossing of only one lane.

At hotspot 8, in the vicinity of the crosswalk at the George Washington Memorial Parkway southeast of the Circle, the crosswalk would be relocated further north along the Parkway. The specific location of the relocated crosswalk would be determined at a future design phase of the project, but it could be moved between 300 and 400 feet north of its current location. The trail connection on either side of the roadway would be realigned to meet the relocated crosswalk. The roadway would be restriped to reduce the lanes from two lanes to one lane in the vicinity of the crosswalk

Safety improvements at crosswalks would allow drivers to be more aware of crossings, which would improve the LOS for pedestrians and bicyclists using crosswalks.

These improvements will make it easier and safer for trail users, sometimes by slowing driving down.

Roadway modifications within the vicinity of crosswalks would improve crossing conditions for pedestrians and cyclists and would better alert drivers that there may be pedestrians or cyclists in the crosswalk. At hotspot 3, the reduction of three lanes to two north of the Circle would result in crosswalk users only having to cross two lanes of traffic, rather than three lanes. Modifications at hotspots 5 and 7 would result in longer queues and a higher number of stops, but it would result in a tradeoff of safer crossing conditions for pedestrians and bicyclists. At hotspot 5, because the crosswalk would be moved north closer to the Circle, pedestrians and bicyclists would be able to cross the road where traffic is moving more slowly and where drivers are already alert and preparing to merge or yield. Similarly, at hotspot 7, although drivers approaching from the east may be focused on preparing to merge into one central lane rather than on the approaching crosswalk at hotspot 9, because the LOS prior to hotspot 7 and 9 would be reduced, drivers would generally be going more slowly and would be better able to stop for crosswalk users. At hotspot 8, because the crosswalk would be moved to the north, drivers would have better visibility on the approach and traffic would be moving at a slower speed than in the current locations. Additionally, because the road would be reduced from two lanes to one in the vicinity, the multiple threat condition is eliminated for pedestrians and bicyclists at this location. Although the LOS for drivers would be lowered at hotspot 8, it would be a tradeoff for a safer crossing condition.

But drivers really need to slow down anyway.

Speed data within the project area was collected during the 2013 traffic study and found that a majority of vehicles exceeded the posted speed limits by 5-10 mph throughout the day on Arlington Memorial Bridge and the Parkway northbound, and about half of vehicles traveled 5-10 mph over the posted speed limits on the northbound bypass of the Circle. Speeds were often higher at off-peak hours because there was no traffic congestion to constrain the speed at which drivers may operate their vehicles.

And as much as this is a positive step forward, it's unfortunate that some of the other considered ideas were discarded. The plan is as noteworthy for what it doesn't do as for what it does do.

Outside of the crosswalks, they determined that speed cameras would be redundant due to plans for stepped up enforcement. Which is ridiculous considering the scale difference. And they also decided that the traffic impacts of making the road HOV-3 or bike/ped/transit only would be "unacceptable".

Installing trail guide signs, wayfinding, bike lanes on Memorial Avenue or Memorial Bridge, a Capital Bikeshare station and waterproof trail maps were all deemed out of scope. Also out of scope was any expansion of the trail network such as a grade-separated connection to Mount Vernon Trail north of the Circle, formalizing (or discouraging the use of) the social trails, widening the trails, installing trail overlooks and installing ADA-compliant surfaces. Some of these don't have anything to do with safety, but trail widening does. There's no mention of a connection to the TR Bridge downstream side - which could be done with a trail in the study area - but it is out of scope too.

It's not clear to me why the Washington Blvd Trail crosswalk doesn't get any improvements, other than perhaps they thing it's safe as is - or not a hotspot at least. But it could use some attention.